


A House is not a Home

by Unspoken0dreams



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode tag: S03E07, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 23:53:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6260920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unspoken0dreams/pseuds/Unspoken0dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>When they leave the house, if it could even really be called that, Zero is quiet.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	A House is not a Home

**Author's Note:**

> Episode tag for S3E07: Killer Crossover.  
> Just a little snippet of what might have happened after the last Jude/Zero scene.  
> First attempt at Hit the Floor fic after I pretty much devoured the entire show in 3 days. No regrets.  
> Comments are much appreciated.

When they leave the house, if it could even really be called that, Zero is quiet. He just sits in the passenger seat watching the LA traffic zoom by as Jude navigates them back to the less slummy, more expensive part of town. Jude isn’t sure if forcing Gideon to face his demons like that was a smart move, or enough to push an already stressed out Zero over the edge. Regardless, it is done now and, quiet brooding aside, Zero seems okay.

“Do you… Would you like me to…,” Jude starts to speak when they near the turn off for Zero’s condo. They normally spend their nights at Jude’s since it’s closer to the arena, and by now they both have most of their clothes and everyday necessities there, but maybe Jude pushed too hard today and Zero needs time by himself. Jude knows he would probably appreciate being left alone to process, if he was the one confronted with a past he had been trying to burry for years.

“Just… take us home, okay?” Zero says, still not turning his eyes away from the cars passing by, but he does reach out and squeezes Jude’s hand over the gearshift.

“Yeah,” Jude agrees, cruising by the turn off and squeezing back.

**

Back at the house Zero disappears into the bathroom but he leaves the door ajar, an invitation if Jude wants it. He does.

“I’m sorry,” Jude whispers, stepping into the show and wrapping his arms around the blonde man, their position mirroring the way Jude had held Zero in the ruins of the baller’s childhood home- house- prison. “Sorry you had to live like that and sorry for forcing you to go back there,” Jude adds, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Zero’s neck.

Zero just lets out a sob, pulling Jude’s arms tighter around himself and leaning forward to rest his head against the tiled wall of the shower cubicle. Zero has been running from his past since the day he turned 18. Going to college had been the perfect exit from a life of misery. A clean slate and a free ride to Colorado to play NCAA ball for the Buffaloes made it easy not only to cut ties with LA but to reinvent who Zero was, to leave Gideon and a miserable childhood behind in favor of a new and brighter future. And it had worked. Until now.

“I wanted to forget,” Zero chokes out, “I tried so hard to forget, to pretend the life I used to have didn’t exist, that Zero didn’t exist until I went to Colorado, that that… place, that kid who used to live there, that Gideon didn’t exist.”

Jude pulls back just enough for Zero to turn around when Jude guides him, “I know and I’m sorry for dragging up your past but, Gideon,” Jude murmurs, resting his forehead against Zero’s, “you can’t run from your past forever, trust me, if you could choose your own past I would have figured out a way to do it by now,” Jude finishes with a wry smile.

“Yeah,” Zero sighs, finally looking Jude in the eye, “Thank you, Jude,” he says, pressing a soft kiss against Jude’s lips, “for being here and for not turning your back on me now that you know what a fraud Zero really is.”

“I know who you are, Gideon,” Jude admonishes with a soft smile, “I didn’t need to see the ruin you grew up in to know who you really are. But I’m happy you trust me enough to let me in.”

Zero flicks his gaze from Jude’s eyes to his lips, “I wouldn’t trust anyone else,” the blonde man admits in a soft tone before his entire countenance shifts. “Now the question is if you trust me enough to let me in,” Zero smirks, reaching one hand down to squeeze Jude’s ass while the other comes up to frame his face.

Jude’s responding laugh is quickly hushed by Zero’s kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I might add smut to this at some point. We'll see.


End file.
